The Catacombs were a planned but unused feature for the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland.
Description[]
Function and Background[]
The catacombs were conceived as a proposed, "Mega-Theme" to intertwine the stories and themes of the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and Tom Sawyer's Island. The catacombs would have physically connected the Haunted Mansion and Tom Sawyer's Island, being accessible via a crypt on the Mansion's burial-grounds made to memorialize the historic pirate, privateer and smuggler, Jean Lafitte (1780-1823).
The proposed entrance via Laffite's Crypt in the Haunted Mansion
After entering the pirate's tomb, guests would enter the skull and skeleton lined catacombs which would be revealed to hold an old lair of Laffite's. The lair would pass underneath of the Mississippi River (Rivers of America) and have its exit be found on Tom Sawyer's Island.[1] Throughout it they'd find piratical themed features, even including a Gunpowder Grog (made from soda and pop-rocks) which was apparently popular amongst Chinese pirates (who were particularly notorious during the early 19th century, most notably with the likes of Ching "Madame Ching" Shih (1775-1844) who was the most successful pirate in human history).
History[]
The Pirate's Lair
The theming of Jean Laffite was already prevalent in New Orleans Square before the catacombs were planned; notably via the shop Laffite's Silver Shop, and Laffite's Landing being the in-world name of the loading zone of Pirates of the Caribbean. Additionally, up until 2002, Tom Sawyer's Island featured theming regarding the War of 1812 in the form of Fort Sam Clemens (named for author Mark Twain) which featured Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), the American president who recruited and pardoned Laffite for his services. This scene would be removed in-part due to (rightfully placed) complaints from Indigenous-American guests as President Andrew "The Indian Killer" Jackson was infamously genocidal and oversaw some of the largest crimes against the human-rights of Indigenous peoples in American history such as the Trail of Tears. Following this, remnants of the Fort were placed in the Haunted Mansion's attic.
The mega-theme and catacombs were proposed by former Disney imagineer Eddie Sotto who had been put in charge of redesigning the Esplanade of New Orleans Square for it to better function as a viewing area for the nighttime show, Fantasmic!. While redoing the esplanade, he incorporated homages to his proposed mega-theming into the new New Orleans Square.
Legacy[]
Disneyland[]
New Orleans Square[]
A bricked over crypt can be found in the pathways of New Orleans Square, being labelled with the year of 1764. This serves as an homage to the planned crypts. There is additionally an anchor with a plaque listing it as having supposedly once belonged to Lafitte.
2003 Film Continuity[]
The tie-in backstory for the 2003 film, The Legend of Gracey Manor features allusions to the planned catacombs. According to this story, Ambrose Gracey and Jean Lafitte were allies in crime and that Ambrose constructed catacombs underneath of Gracey Manor to aid in his smuggling operations, and for Andrew Jackson's army during the War of 1812.
Tales from the Haunted Mansion[]
In Tales from the Haunted Mansion: Volume II: Midnight at Madame Leota's, the Arcane family crypt found in the Eternal Grace Cemetery has a secret underground passage connecting the graveyard to the Haunted Mansion.
Trivia[]
- In real life, such catacombs being found in New Orleans would be highly inefficient and lethal due to New Orleans being a coastal city which is below sea level. Before cremation was allowed within the Catholic church, New Orleans even has a history of being unable to bury their dead due to the sea-level causing the corpses and coffins to be ejected from the ground by water, in-turn causing the corpses to float through the the streets of the city and cause crawfish infestations.
- The year 1764 aligns with the year Spain announced their acquisition of Louisiana. France only reclaimed Louisiana in 1800 via a secret treaty condition only for Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte of France to sell it three years later.